BRADFORD Council is to compulsory purchase a house that has been described as an eyesore.

No 67 Sandholme Drive has been boarded up for years and its front garden is overgrown and has been filled with fly-tipped waste.

Now the Council has issued an order to buy it and will then sell it to a housing association or private owner to bring it back into use.

That has come as a relief to one woman who is trying to sell a property on the street and says the house has blighted that part of Thorpe Edge.

She said: "It's a dumping ground. Rubbish is piled up in the garden with tyres and rubbish on the path.

"It's putting people off buying in the area.

"The government gave the council a grant to regenerate the estate eight or nine years ago but it's slowly gone downhill.

"A minority spoil it for everyone else."

She says the house has been left empty for a considerable number of years with everything ripped out of the interior and the windows smashed and boarded up.

She added: "It's an environmental health issue. There are rats and vermin."

A Bradford Council spokesperson, said: "This property has been empty since 2014 and we have been attempting to work with the owners since 2017.

"The house is a wasted resource, is in very poor condition, has attracted fly tipping and has become a nuisance to neighbouring residents.

"Having offered the owners all the support and advice possible, and considered all available enforcement options, the Council decided in November 2017 the only way to bring this property back into use was via a compulsory purchase order.

"This is likely to take a further five months.

"Once we have gained ownership, the property will be sold either to a housing partner or on the open market. Sale conditions will ensure the property is renovated to a reasonable standard and is brought back into use.

"The Council’s Environmental Enforcement Team are aware of accumulated waste at the property and is planning appropriate action.

"Using compulsory purchase orders in this way are a last resort, however, properties like this are not only a wasted housing resource, they also become a nuisance to neighbouring residents and can affect property values."

Meanwhile, Pudsey ward member on Leeds City Council, Councillor Richard Lewis, has welcomed news that the owner of a neglected shop premises on Lowtown, Pudsey, has started work to bring the property up to a reasonable state following years of disrepair.

The shop unit, which has stood empty since the closure of the sub post office many years ago, is having a long-overdue makeover thanks to action by Leeds Council which threatened to step in and complete work by default and then present the owner with the bill.

This victory follows a long history of attempts by the council to persuade him to bring the property up to an acceptable condition and appearance. Despite these efforts, including the threat of legal action, the owner has not engaged until the council made its threat.

Council officers will continue to inspect the site as the renovation works progress in order to ensure that they are completed to an adequate standard.

Coun Lewis (Lab, Pudsey) said: “I’m very pleased that we finally have the owner’s cooperation who, up until this point, has failed to deliver on their promises to the council and left this eyesore to blight the area.

“While the majority of property owners respond in a timely manner to issues like this, there are always some who will ignore every reasonable effort made by the council. I think we need to learn the lesson from this case, and think about taking this approach where we have property owners who are, to be blunt, sticking two fingers up at the council and the community.

“We will be keeping an eagle-eye on the extent and quality of the work as it progresses and will not hesitate to take further action if required.”